Rubik's Cube
by InkDrops.FoxTails
Summary: Sometimes, the best stories are told in fragments. (modern AU, reupload, warnings and notes inside)


**A/U: Funny story...I did a virus scan, my computer restarted while I was editing a new story, and when I logged on again this story and 'The Taken' where gone. Which, I wanted to rewrite 'the Taken' anyway. But have a reupload (as I'm kind of proud of this little fic).**

 **TRIGGER WARNING: suicide, cancer, major character deaths**

* * *

 **Rubik's Cube**

 **~ A Story Told in Sentences ~**

 _1: Pleasant_

Gil was terrified for his first day of second grade in a brand-new country, but once he laid eyes on a freckle-faced, rowdy little boy, he thought it might be almost pleasant.

 _2: Mutter_

"Je m'appelle Gil," the French youngster says, voice but a mutter; the other kid just grins and introduces himself as Jack Laurens, speaking fluently in Gil's first language.

 _3: Ash_

During recess, Gil meets Alex and Hercules before the four of them play tag—then, they collapse under the ash tree and fall asleep.

 _4: Shrink_

A boy named Tom Jefferson teases Gil during their lunch period; Jack leaps to Gil's defense, hurling baby carrots, and Thomas finally shrinks away, tail between his legs.

 _5: Quiet_

It's third grade when Jack asks Gil, "Has anyone ever told you you're really quiet?" and Gil just smiles; quiet is a good counter to John's brash outside-voice.

 _6: Warrior_

One day, Gil announces proudly that when he grows up, he wants to join the army…and Jack beams, says Gil sounded like a fierce warrior, like a hero.

 _7: Silver_

In the fall, a new kid moves into their class, a boy named Aaron Burr, whose silver polo shirt gleamed like new money—and he and Gil hit it off immediately, pushing Jack to the background.

 _8: Almost_

Alex, Hercules, and Jack despise Aaron; they call him names, always argue with him, and when Aaron bursts into tears, head in his hands, Gil hold him close and tight and almost cries, too.

 _9: Home_

It's April when Gil is taken into the principal's office and told his parents were killed in a hit-and-run, that he was going back home to France.

 _10: Alone_

Gil had screamed, wailed, because he was alone and how was being an orphan home?

 _11: Rise_

The sun rises and falls from his grandmother's house in Chavaniac-Lafayette, just as it did in New York—Gil misses Aaron's infectious smile, Alex's furrowed brows when he argued, Hercules' loud "Brrrrrrruuuuah!" by way of greeting, Jack's freckles and chipped front tooth and…and he had forgotten to say goodbye.

 _12: Lie_

Gil was in ninth grade when his grandmother inevitably died of natural causes; he had gone to her funeral, swathed in black, wiping his eyes under his too-big glasses, and said he hoped to stay in France—it wasn't the first time he told a lie that mournful day.

 _13: Prayer_

He's in foster care for a few months until he meets George and Martha Washington, a couple from America who shake his hand firmly, ruffle his hair, chuckle at his broken English; that night, he says a prayer and falls asleep.

 _14: Harmony_

He moves back to New York City with his new parents—he decides to call them Ma and Pa—and loves how the city lights move in harmony with the sky.

 _15: Summer_

Gil is in his senior year when he walks into a coffee shop called Liberty's Sons, inhales the musky scent of caffeine, and locks gazes with a freckle-faced barista—Jack's eyes are still the warm color of a summer forest.

 _16: Plead_

So Gil hurried to the counter and began to plea for forgiveness, because he had left without even saying goodbye and he was such a jerk; Jack smiled, a smile that reached his ears perfectly, and asked, "Still like coffee with almond milk, _mon ami_?"

 _17: Brake_

Gil was drumming his fingers on his steering wheel, still grinning, white chocolate mocha with almond milk stirred in to account for his lactose intolerance in his cup holder, when he thinks of Jack—and has to slam on the brakes before he runs a stoplight.

 _18: Heart_

Jack invites him over that Saturday, along with Hercules and Alex, and, of course, Gil shows up; he embraces his long-lost friends, cheeks sore from his wide smile and heart bursting with forgotten joy.

 _19: Accent_

Hercules laughs at how thick Gil's accent has gotten, comments that it seems to ooze from his words, and Gil smiles back—because he's missed this kind of enjoyment.

 _20: Message_

That night, while Gil is lying in bed, sprawled out and half-asleep, he gets a text from a group chat that reads, "gil is bak & im sCREECHING"…and he grins, holds his phone to his chest, the message screen against his beating heart.

 _21: Fight_

Alex is the only one that goes to Gil's high school, although they share no classes and Alex plays no sports; Gil wrestles and soon finds himself pitted against Hercules during a match…it was the first time he forfeited a fight.

 _22: Prison_

In the state championship, Gil finally wrestles Hercules and breaks his arm during the fight, but only staggers off the sweaty mat once he wins with a pin during the third period—and he's in a prison-like hospital for what feels like years.

 _23: Tiptoe_

He goes to the coffee shop again, arm in a blank white cast, and Jack tiptoes over, avoiding his manager's gaze, and uses spare markers to color a French flag on his friend's cast.

 _24: Rain_

Hercules calls him, sounding tearful, and apologizes over and over; Gil stares into the rain dripping off the trees outside his window as the sun peeks out of the clouds and says, "It's fine, really…it's my fault for cradling wrong, _uerrier_."

 _25: Abandon_

Gil is hurrying to class, carrying his books awkwardly when he runs into a familiar dark-eyed boy—Aaron Burr—and he calls, "Hi, _vieil ami_!" but Aaron just brushes on past, leaving Gil frowning and abandoned in his wake.

 _26: Lemonade_

Gil tries again, and this time, Aaron opens up a bit, asks to be called Burr, tells him about what's happened in Gil's absence, and signs Gil's cast in a small area where John hasn't drawn anything; Gil traces the neat scrawl, notes how the writing is the color of cold lemonade, and a smile pulls at his lips.

 _27: Breathe_

Jack, Alex, Hercules, and—much to the former three's annoyance—Burr are all standing in the waiting room the day Gil gets his cast off, holding balloons and cards and all grinning; surrounded by friends, Gil feels like he can breathe easy for now.

 _28: Applaud_

Gil tries out for the track team, as it's always been one of his passions, and grins when Jack shows up, bundled in an over-sized sweater, applauding and cheering him on; Gil makes the team.

 _29: Glasses_

Jack sets Gil up for a blind date as soon as the Frenchman steps into Liberty's Sons; Gil sits down in front of Peggy Schuyler and she adjusts his glasses with a small smile, tongue poking out in concentration, sweeps a few shadowy curls from his blue eyes…his heart goes _boom_.

 _30: Thankful_

Peggy likes to flip traditional dates on their heads—meaning, she likes when Gil wears his _Kiss Me, I'm French_ hoodie to their hamburger restaurant dinners, loves to shift his glasses on his nose, and waves him off when he tries to hold the door for her—and Gil is thankful for Jack setting him up with this wonderful girl.

 _31: Crosswalk_

Gil is leading Peggy across the crosswalk one evening after a late-night date when she stands on her tiptoes and presses her lips to his, melting into his arms, and he pulls her across the street before kissing back.

 _32: Jacket_

Jack asks Gil why they rarely talk anymore one morning while Gil is getting his usual cup of coffee and Gil, ears going red, says that school had been busy; it starts to snow, school is cancelled, and Gil still regrets excluding Jack so he walks his friend home, the freckled-faced boy wrapped snugly in Gil's large jacket.

 _33: Proud_

At the end of his senior year, Gil finds out that Jack is going to an art college on the other side of the country and smiles, smiles at the bright look on Jack's face, but on the inside his heart is cracking and shattering and the pieces are scattering; Gil says, voice choked, "I'm so proud of you, _petite tortue_."

 _34: Toast_

Gil gets a scholarship to Colorado State University and decides to become a vet, Alex and Burr are going to Kings College, and Hercules is signing up for the United States military; the five of them toast to the future, but Gil feels emptier than his drained glass.

 _35: Snuggle_

On the last day of school, Gil leaves early, cutting class for the first time ever to meet his four friends—and Peggy—for lunch at their favorite restaurant…the entire time, he snuggles Peggy close to his chest and grins, tears pricking at his eyes.

 _36: Edge_

Once Gil is on his flight, lifting off the ground, it hits him: he's leaving his friends, his surrogate parents, and, emotions already on the edge, he loses it, sobbing frantically, scratching at the plane's window.

 _37: Bewitching_

He arrives in Colorado early in the afternoon and he can't help but smile at the bewitching mountains that jut up like knives, slicing into a cool azure sky; Jack and Peggy would love this, he thinks.

 _38: Handlebars_

The moment he arrives in his apartment, he calls his parents, then Peggy, then FaceTimes the crew—Jack, Alex, Hercules, and Burr, who they tolerate more now—who tell him how glad they are, how happy they are for him; Alex jokes, "Without us there, it's like riding a bike with no handlebars, Lancelot!"

 _39: Frost_

About a week later, in late October, frost dusts the grass in the morning, and Gil is a bit startled at how frigid the air is—he snuggles into his hoodie, Peggy's favorite of his hoodies, and falls asleep on the couch.

 _40: Headphones_

Gil strolls to his first day of class, headphones loose around his neck, fidgeting with his polo shirt, when he hears a voice from behind him, "Excuse me, but I lost my only map, do you know where the Morgan Library is?"

 _41: Crooked_

Spinning on his heels, Gil finds himself staring at the one-and-only Thomas—Was it still Tom?—Jefferson, whose crooked smile vanishes and is swapped out for a confused frown.

 _42: Art_

Later, still a bit surprised, Gil calls Jack, asks how art school is going, and is soon yawning a laugh into his phone at midnight…but, somehow, he isn't really tired.

 _43: Fall_

Gil soon finds that he can't afford to pay his rent and moves into a shabby dorm, stumbling and nearly falling over when he reads, "Thomas Jefferson and Gilbert Lafayette: ROOM 1781" beside the ajar door of his new room.

 _44: Willow_

He's nearly finished moving in when Thomas strides in, calling, "Uh…hello?"; Gil smiles shyly over his shoulder, says, "Hi," and pushes his fake willow tree to the side, wishing he was back in his apartment.

 _45: Apologize_

That night, Thomas offers to make dinner, which Gil has no complaints about; he makes mac-and-cheese—Gil laughs, then apologizes, because this situation had to be a dream.

 _46: Voice_

Gil is eating the surprisingly good mac-and-cheese when his phone rings; he excuses himself and steps away, hearing Jack's voice crack and break on the other line: "It's about Burr."

 _47: Saint_

He drops his phone and falls to his knees, face in his hands, sobs choking him, screams caught in his throat—Thomas hurries over, asks what's wrong, and Gil wails that Aaron was practically a saint and this couldn't be happening and why would Aaron ever want to kill himself?

 _48: Tornado_

Awkward, Thomas flops down beside his roommate and hesitantly holds Gil close, murmuring soothingly, but Gil can't hear him through the tornado that's whirling in his ears and tearing down his walls.

 _49: Song_

Ma and Pa buy Gil a plane ticket home so he can attend the funeral; Gil breaks down in tears when they ask him to sing a song for his friend before they cremate Aaron's body, he stutters out the words to the only sorrowful song he can remember— _Amazing Grace_ —and when they ask for stories about Aaron, Gil feels no regret when he talks for ten minutes and cries for five.

 _50: Daisies_

Back in his dorm, Gil throws away his fake willow and replaces it with Aaron's favorite flowers, daisies; he reads, writes poems, intentionally argues with Thomas (who actually has quite the ego) to keep his mind off Aaron—but nothing works.

 _51: Serenity_

In December, it begins to snow more often; one Saturday, he sits on the balcony and watches it fall, blanketing the towering trees…Thomas passes him a mug of hot cocoa and asks if he wants company; Gil says no, enjoying the serenity, hoping the snowflakes are thick enough to cover Aaron's face from his mind.

 _52: Firecracker_

It's Christmas Eve when Thomas opens up to Gil, talks of his childhood, but never apologizes for his behavior when the two were young; Gil smiles and nods, speaks about France, his parents—both dead and alive—and, in the end, finds himself enjoying the conversation, a bright firecracker lighting in his heart.

 _53: Hopscotch_

Gil flies home again for the holidays, embracing his three remaining friends with a newfound fierceness and kissing Peggy with more love than ever before; they decide to go outside, play hopscotch like they did when they were young, but before long, it turns into the Great Snowball War of 2015.

 _54: Photograph_

For Christmas, Aaron's poor grandfather sends him a package, delivered to his parent's house: a picture of Gil, Peggy, Alex, Jack, Hercules, and Aaron, arm-in-arm, grinning, Gil touching his nose to Peggy's cheek, Aaron ducking away with Jack trying to grab him in a headlock—and Gil puts it on his dresser once he arrives back in his dorm, then copies it and slides it into his wallet.

 _55: Sawdust_

Gil and Thomas are finally getting used to one another's company, and although Gil still misses Aaron desperately, he has to admit that rap battling Thomas can be good fun—and although Thomas has a voice as grainy as sawdust, that's just something else Gil can laugh at...and Gil has always wanted to be a rapper.

 _56: Cinnamon_

Gil FaceTimes Peggy one afternoon during lunch, laughing as she struggles to make cookies, grinning at her cinnamon dusted hair as the can pops open and explodes in a cloud of spice; she shakes her head, wipes her eyes, then says, "Your glasses are crooked."

 _57: Blush_

It's January when Gil and Thomas go out for lunch together, Gil's hair in a loose ponytail, Thomas letting his wild mane of fluff fly free, both joking and walking side by side, and Gil feels himself blush when a girl says, "I didn't know you had a twin brother, Tom"; his cheeks only darken when Thomas doesn't correct her.

 _58: Lightning_

It storms one night, lightning dances like webs across the clouds, and Gil sprawls across the sofa, Thomas next to him, reading a book; Gil says absently, "You know, I wouldn't mind being your brother."

 _59: Innocent_

Peggy visits him for Valentine's Day in February, and he loves the innocent look on her face, the way she fidgets with her shirt collar, the way he can count the few freckles that dot her cheeks; he loves her so much.

 _60: Fist_

Gil asks if it had hurt, Peggy says, "Let me guess…when I fell from heaven?"—Gil grins, says no, "Did it hurt when you fell for me?" and dodges the fist that flies playfully at his face.

 _61: Faithless_

Gil calls Jack once Peggy is safely on her way back to New York, tells his friend about how much he loves Peggy, how helpless he feels, how his heart seems to drum a little faster at the sight of her, how he knows she'll never marry an immigrant like him while she has a father like hers, and Jack giggles; "You're so faithless, Gil…I just got a text from Peggy, and she wants me to thank you for the sweater she definitely didn't steal from your room."

 _62: Bullet_

At the end of his freshman year in college, Gil and Thomas go hiking, picnicking on the mountain's peak, laughing and wheezing even though sweat drips from their brows like quicksilver bullets because some moments were just too good to stop and photograph—at least, that was Gil thinks as he watches a hawk swoop by, dark against the blue sky.

 _63: Jade_

He and Thomas drive down to New York City in June, deciding to stay for a week; Thomas tries to get along with Jack and Hercules, but despises Alex openly…Gil is just glad to see Peggy, a jade dress sweeping around her ankles as she jumps into his embrace.

 _64: Heaven_

On Gil's birthday, the crew—plus Peggy—FaceTime him, wish him a happy birthday, promise to mail gifts, tell him how Aaron would be bursting with suppressed joy; when Jack laughs, "Talk less…he begged Alex to listen to 'at one!", Gil thinks he's caught a glimpse of heaven on Earth.

 _65: Soft_

It starts out as the occasional soft cough, then deepens into a shortness of breath and nosebleeds and frequent fevers; Thomas nags Gil to go see a doctor, and, giving it at last, Gil goes.

 _66: Fear_

Gil is at the doctor's office for what feels like years; the doctor slides him a paper and Gil feels a stone of fear drop heavily into his stomach as he pulls out his phone, stumbling to his car, and calls Peggy.

 _67: Broken_

His voice is broken by the time she answers, says hello; he whispers, "Mon amour…Peggy, I have bad news."

 _68: Swan_

He staggers into Thomas' room, finding his friend lying on the bed, reading as usual, and plops down, snuggling into Thomas' arms with his head folded back like an injured swan's.

 _69: Guitar_

"What's wrong, Papillion?" Thomas asks, chestnut eyes bright in the daylight; Gil chokes, voice like an out-of-tune acoustic guitar, "Leukemia."

 _70: Tears_

He texts Jack, Alex, and Hercules with shaking thumbs, phone's screen wet with tears, who all tell him to stop lying; he types back that he wishes he was lying.

 _71: Daydream_

Peggy drives down in a hurry, immediately rushing over and stopping in front of him, her eyes—oh, her eyes are the most breathtaking umber, he thinks, the most perfect portrait of a daydream in reality—brimming with tears; shivering, she chokes, "Your glasses are crooked, Gil," then pushes them up on his nose.

 _72: Moonbeam_

The night before Peggy leaves, the moonbeams hit her face beautifully, making her eyes so bright and her smile so sweet, and he drops to one knee, stifles a cough, pulls out a little box, and says, "I know that we're so young, but…but please, marry me."

 _73: Lullaby_

She grins, his heart freezes in his chest, and she breathes, "Of course"; for the next few months, those words become his only comfort, his lullaby.

 _74: Bittersweet_

A year later, Gil is lying in a hospital bed, friends and his parents sitting nearby, taking turns telling about what he's missed in his week of being bedridden; Alex, Hercules, and Jack even tolerate Thomas' presence, and watching Hercules' head droop against Thomas' shoulder, Gil's heart twists at the bittersweet scene.

 _75: Face_

Gil kisses Peggy, looks deep into her eyes, exchanges smiles and hugs with his friends, pulls his parents close with weak arms, and mummers, "Love you all, bonne nuit'; when his eyes flutter open again, he's staring into the grinning face of one Aaron Burr, who says simply, "You made it, Lancelot."

 _THE END_


End file.
